Together in the struggle against Nazi Germany

by New Worker correspondent

Eighty-four years ago, on the 26th May 1942, the Soviet Union and Britain concluded the Anglo-Soviet Treaty of Alliance, which established a military and political alliance between the Soviet Union and the British Empire. It followed on from the Anglo-Soviet Agreement of July 1941 that they would assist each other in fighting Germany and not seek a separate peace with the Third Reich or its allies without the consent of the other. The treaty, which was to have remained in force for 20 years, provided for full collaboration between the two countries during and after the war. It was signed in London by Vyacheslav Molotov, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, and British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, in the presence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Molotov flew to London aboard a Soviet Petlyakov Pe-8 heavy bomber. Molotov then flew to Washington to conclude a similar agreement with the USA.
In his report to the Supreme Soviet, the highest legislative body of the USSR, Molotov said: “The treaty consolidates the friendly relations which have been established between the Soviet Union and Great Britain and their mutual military assistance in the struggle against Hitlerite Germany. It transforms these relations into a stable alliance. The treaty also defines the general line of our joint action with Great Britain in the post-war period.
“The entire tenor of the treaty bears out its great political importance not only for the development of Anglo-Soviet relations but also for the future development of the entire complex of international relations in Europe. Both the Anglo-Soviet treaty and the results of the negotiations which I conducted on instructions of the Soviet Government in London and Washington testify to the substantial consolidation of friendly relations among the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States of America. The importance of this fact to the peoples of the Soviet Union, who are bearing the main brunt of the struggle against Hitlerite Germany, will increase in such measure as it helps expedite our victory over the German invaders…
“The treaty and the understanding reached between the Soviet Union and England, as well as between the Soviet Union and the United States, on a number of very important questions relating to the present war and on collaboration after the war imply a consolidation of the fellowship in arms of all freedom-loving nations, which are headed today by the Soviet Union, Great Britain and the United States.”
The historic moment of the signing of the Anglo-Soviet treaty was captured by a renowned British portrait artist, Frank Owen Salisbury (1874–1964), with Eden and Churchill flanked by Molotov and the Soviet delegation on one side and the Labour leader, Clement Attlee, and other members of Churchill’s war-time Cabinet on the other. It was presented as a gift to the Soviet Government on the first anniversary of the treaty.

We will remember them

by New Worker correspondent

On Tuesday 27 January Russian diplomats together with Russian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom laid a wreath and flowers at the Soviet War Memorial at the Imperial War Museum in south London to mark the 82nd anniversary of the lifting of the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
Members of the Russian community in Manchester also held a flower-laying ceremony at a plaque unveiled in 2020 in honoured memory of the Soviet soldiers who gave their lives liberating Europe in the Second World War and in recognition of the brave people of the besieged Leningrad.
On the eve of this date, the Russian diplomatic mission's staff conveyed the greetings of the Governor of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) Alexander Beglov to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War as it is known in Russian who currently live in the UK.
The Nazi German blockade of the city stands as one of the most tragic yet heroic chapters in the history of the Soviet Union. It lasted from 8th September 1941 to 27th January 1944 – 872 days of extreme hardship, hunger and deprivation. Historians estimate that no more than 800,000 of the three million inhabitants of Leningrad and its surrounding areas survived the siege.
The feat of Leningraders has become a symbol of unbreakable will, courage and self-sacrifice. The memory of those who died in the blockade will remain in the hearts of the Russian people forever.

Victory Day in London

By New Worker correspondent

Victory Day is a public holiday in Russia and most of the former Soviet republics, and in the past members of the Russian ex-pat community have traditionally joined the ceremony that’s held every year at the Soviet War Memorial in the shadow of the Imperial War Museum in south London.

This year the Soviet War Memorial Trust had been planning a large-scale event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied Victory over Nazi Germany but that was called off because of the coronavirus crisis. It was replaced with a solemn diplomatic ceremony that was held last Saturday to honour all those who fell in the struggle to defeat Nazi Germany in the Second World War. 

Ambassadors representing seven countries of the former USSR – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzia, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – gathered for the event organised by the Soviet War Memorial Trust (SWMT). Following the laying of wreaths, the Russian Ambassador delivered a short address, a silence was observed and the Exhortation was recited. Ralph Gibson laid a wreath on behalf of the SWMT and all supporters of the Memorial who could not be present due to the current restrictions. The event was organised in consultation with the Mayor of Southwark's office, the Metropolitan Police, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Russian Ambassador, Andrei Kelin, noted the decisive contribution to victory made by the Soviet Union: but at a tremendous cost – 27 million Soviet people perished, and thousands of cities, towns and villages were destroyed. He also paid tribute to all those who served in the Arctic Convoys that supplied essential supplies to the Soviet Union and all Russia’s allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. “We pay tribute to everyone who died in fighting for the freedom of humanity. We will always remember and be forever grateful to the veterans of World War Two who brought us peace while selflessly fighting the enemy,” he said.

Anne, the Princess Royal, who had intended to be present, sent a message to the participants: “It is vital that we recognise the incredible sacrifice made by the peoples of the former Soviet Union. Few people fought more bravely, or suffered more grievously for the price of victory.”

The SWMT Chair Philip Matthews drew attention, in his address to the ambassadors, to the Soviet prisoners-of-war who died in the Channel Islands who were used by the Nazi occupiers as slave labour. He noted that the Islands mark 9^th May as their liberation day.

Saturday's ceremony marked the 21st anniversary of the unveiling in 1999 of the Soviet War Memorial, located in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park that surrounds the Imperial War Museum in Southwark. Funded by public subscription in Britain and the Russian Federation, the Memorial has become a focal point for people from all over the former USSR and the UK.

‘Immortals’ remembered at London’s Soviet War Memorial

Dermot Hudson and Andy Brooks honour the fallen

by New Worker correspondent

 

Russian and British war veterans and members of London’s thriving Russian community joined hundreds of Londoners in commemorating the victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany this week. Local dignitaries and the envoys from many of the former Soviet republics gathered around the Soviet War Memorial in the shadow of the Imperial War Museum on Tuesday for the annual ceremony, organised by the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund, to mark the 72^nd anniversary of the Allied Victory over Fascism in 1945.

   Whilst hundreds of thousands of people packed Red Square for the massive parade for the ‘March of the Immortals’ to salute those who fought and those that gave their lives in the struggle to defeat the Nazis in the Second World War, British veterans held their banners high in London as they marched to the war memorial. The monument that was made in Russia depicts a semi-abstract figure holding a bell that will forever remain silent in memory of those who died in the conflict.

Communists and peace campaigners ,including CND veteran Bruce Kent and a New Communist Party delegation led by NCP general secretary Andy Brooks, joined others in laying wreaths and floral tributes at the memorial unveiled in 1999 as a lasting tribute to the Soviet sacrifice.

Victory Day is a public holiday throughout the Russian Federation and in many of the former Soviet republics, and at the end of the ceremony the Russian ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, invited everyone to join him in a toast to victory at the nearby marquees where vodka, wine and Russian food were waiting.

Soviet Victory Day

by New Worker correspondent 

HUNDREDS of people – including many from London’s Russian community – gathered in the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in south London on Monday 9th May to mark the 71^st anniversary of the Red Army victory over the Nazi hordes that had invaded their country.

The Soviet Union lost around 27 million soldiers and citizens in that terrible conflict which ended with the capture of the German Reichstag in Berlin by Red Army troops.

Many of those present at the ceremony held up pictures of their relatives who had died in the conflict.

And a group of veterans from the Red Army and Red Navy joined British veterans of the conflict in a place of honour at the ceremony.

The event began with a speech of welcome from Philip Matthews, who chairs the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund, followed by speeches from the Mayor of Southwark, Councillor Dixon-Fyle and Colonel Steve Francis, who spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The final speech was made by the Russian ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko.

Then came the main part of the ceremony – the wreath laying with local officials, ambassadors from the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Soviet veterans and British veterans of the Arctic Convoy Club. Both the veteran groups were cheered, applauded and thanked by the crowd.

Then wreaths were laid by many organisations, including a wreath laid on behalf of the New Communist Party.

At the end of the wreath laying Alexei Korobko, from the Russian embassy school, read the poem Wait for me by Konstantin Simonov and two other pupils from the same school – Aksinya Yelovik and Pelegeya Selyakova – sang the sad and haunting Zhuravli (Song of the Cranes) by Rasul Gamzatov. The song is based on the legend that when a Russian soldier dies in battle his soul transforms into a crane, which flies back to his home and loved ones. In wartime Russian women in their villages look up to see flocks of cranes flying overhead, wondering what has become of their men.

After the Last Post the exhortation was read by Stanley Ballard of the Arctic Convoy Club and then came the two minutes silence.

At the end of the ceremony Alexander Yakovenko invited everyone to drink a toast to the victory – with vodka, food and a variety of other drinks laid on in marquees in the park.